SOUTHEASTERN N.C. — It’s a familiar drill: Pit chefs against each other to create a one-of-a-kind dish and let judges decide who should rise to the top.
READ MORE: City and county reach ‘win-win’ on Northside Food Co-op land
The model has gained fame in food-based shows like “Top Chef” and “Chopped.” Now, an area nonprofit is utilizing it as the foundation of a fundraiser, with the goal to raise $30,000.
Northside Food Co-op will host “Chopped by the Coast” this fall, bringing together four chefs who will be given access to a pantry of food and a basket of mystery ingredients required to use to create a dish on the fly — and in front of an audience. The judges can bring one signature ingredient to the showdown as well, whether it’s a special seasoning blend or oil.
Cierra Washington, executive director for Northside Food Co-op, said the team normally hosts roughly three fundraisers a year and wanted something more engaging and interactive, not just “another cocktail party or gala,” for its fall event. The co-op’s mission is to tackle food security, promote healthy eating and community engagement.
“We wanted to create fun, immersive experiences,” Washington said of her team, Qualin Bowen, Marsel McFadden, Shaquana Knowlin and Sarah Casey-Summers. “Think outside of traditional fundraising measures.”
She said earlier this year they hosted a casino night at Hi-Wire Brewing in partnership with Voyage of Wilmington. VOW works with youth to overcome multi-generational poverty with violence reduction programs and providing more positive social development and outreach.
Pairing the Northside Food Co-op and Wilmington’s growing caliber of chefs seemed a natural fit. Washington said she reached out to Dean Neff of Seabird and Keith Rhodes of Catch, the latter of whom is also a founding board member of the co-op and appeared on season 9 of “Top Chef.” Both are James Beard nominees as well.
“Most of our judging chefs are pretty well-known and they’ve done their time,” Washington said, noting they didn’t want to compete but instead wanted to shine the light on regional up-and-comers. “That’s the part of creating awareness and space for everyone.”
Kory Sanderlin from Smash N’Dash, Christie Walker from The Basics, Sam Cahoon from Savorez and Gerald Hawkins Jr. from Beach Shop & Grill and Country Club at Landfall are the competitors. Along with Rhodes and Neff, judges also include Matt Ray from Matt Ray Photography, Chef Lora Plauche from Salt and Charm, and Chef Ryan Andress from UNCW Dining.
Washington said the team chose people of various backgrounds to compete, with the goal to mix up genders and include minorities, one of whom is Hawkins. A top contender in the final round of North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association’s (NCRLA) Chef Showdown, Hawkins isn’t new to the competition scene. He will appear in NCRLA’s final round to take place Aug. 26, participating as a pastry chef.
The young chef has been in Wilmington since 2021 and worked in Charlotte previously as a chef de cuisine and pastry chef, including for three-times James Beard-nominated Leah & Louise Restaurant.
His approach to “Chopped on the Coast” is to showcase a love for American Southern cooking, blending Africa and the African diaspora with Southeast Asia as well.
“The foods I’m passionate about are anything grown or produced in North Carolina,” he said. “It’s important to me to serve the farmers and producers as much as I can even though I’m a pastry chef.”
Hawkins said he welcomed the opportunity to be involved with the nonprofit event because its outreach resonated with his own upbringing.
“Their aim to create a community centered grocery store in a historically African-American neighborhood and area is something I can identify with culturally,” he said. “I grew up in Norlina, an extremely small idyllic town in Warren County, where my family had to travel 30 minutes plus for groceries and necessities during my childhood.”
The Northside Food Co-op is in the process of building a home — a grocery store at 900 10th St. The store is being funded by the New Hanover Community Endowment and the county, to the tune of $9 million — with $2.5 million provided by the latter and nearly $7 million by the endowment.
One-year $100 memberships to the co-op have grown to more than 750 individuals, up from roughly 500 in 2022 since plans have been announced that the store is, in fact, going to happen.
“We’ve been growing a lot this summer, especially as people have been more excited that we have all of the funding confirmed,” Washington said. “Especially a lot of our seniors who were part of earlier efforts to bring a grocery store into the Northside, and they saw that fail, so they had a lot of skepticism about this project.”
The city donated land worth roughly $115,000 for the grocery store to be built upon, which went through a second deed update and transfer to the county earlier this spring.
Washington said the group will be announcing its architect soon; the county, co-op and grocery store consulting firm, Seven Roots, which builds co-ops nationwide, have been undertaking interviews in recent months.
Though not operational yet, Northside still holds its farmers markets every Saturday at Portia Hines Park on 10th Street. It sells local produce from area farmers, as well as goods created by crafters and food makers.
The co-op also has community dinners at DREAMS of Wilmington, each based on a theme and executed potluck style or with community members and area chefs volunteering to cook. The goal is to build relationships and be more than just a grocery store, but a place that values everyone in the neighborhood and who shops there.
“These events are opportunities to create community cohesion,” Washington said.
The Northside — considered from 4th to 17th streets, Princess Street to the Love Grove community — has faced many changes in the last 30 years, undergoing gentrification particularly. Washington said it’s created a disconnect among its residents.
“Neighbors weren’t really spending time with one another or know one another,” she said, “and there wasn’t really an event where people could just be themselves. So we started the dinners.”
The co-op’s community dinners continue the second and fourth Thursdays of the month and help the team keep up with wants and needs for the grocery store. The store is not slated to open until 2026.
“So a lot of the work that we do to engage the community now, we still need to continue to do until that time,” Washington said, adding the money from “Chopped on the Coast” will benefit these areas of outreach and interaction.
The team has gathered 70 surveys in the last few months to begin pinpointing what people want to see from the store’s offerings. They also host listening sessions and take groups on grocery store tours monthly to learn firsthand what products consumers like, what programs they want and services to render. Washington clarified the store will be welcoming to everyone in Wilmington — not just Northside residents.
As well, its products will be approachable to all incomes and isn’t centered on all-organic foods, nor is it a food pantry.
“The important thing about membership is that you get to have a voice in this project,” she said. “And when the store opens, you’ll get special perks and discounts, but you’ll also be be able to say, ‘I was a part of this community effort to bring a store to my neighborhood, and I was able to have a voice in this, and I get to vote on things, and they care about what I have to say.’”
Audience members at “Chopped” also will have a voice in the winning chefs. The four contestants will face off in two fast-paced, high-energy rounds, where they must deliver an appetizer and an entree. Someone from the audience will be chosen to cast a vote alongside the celebrity judges in both rounds.
A bonus mixology round also will take place for VIP ticket holders ahead of the event. Washington said the team is finalizing the participating bartenders currently and anticipates an audience vote there as well.
“Chopped on the Coast” takes place Oct. 13, 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Annex at the Harrelson Center. Tickets are here.
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